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AIRLINE 3/29 Spoilers!!
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Posted by: faerie

Alright, just watched this episode, same general cast of crazy characters. But was anyone else bothered by "V" closing the doors after the "passenger of size" boarded the plane and then her making the comment "another flight another dollar" or something along those lines? It seemed rather innappropriate considering that they just forced someone to buy an extra seat because of a sometimes enforced rule.

Posted by: ThomasDrew

quote:
Originally posted by faerie
Alright, just watched this episode, same general cast of crazy characters. But was anyone else bothered by "V" closing the doors after the "passenger of size" boarded the plane and then her making the comment "another flight another dollar" or something along those lines? It seemed rather innappropriate considering that they just forced someone to buy an extra seat because of a sometimes enforced rule.

Tonight's episode had me wondering if people just lose all sense of reality at the airport. In each incident, the passengers were clearly in the wrong.

I *loved* the response that the Midway Southwest woman gave the football fans: "I am the manager and you've missed your flight".

I found myself cheering for the company throughout tonight's show as I am employed in the hospitality industry and can relate to some of the passengers unreasonable demands, lies and mistruths.

As far as the passenger of size is concerned, I would be more inclined to be sympathetic if the condition was medical related and not a result of poor dietary choices. (Even the man's friends claimed that he ate non-stop)Anyone that fat needs to pay for an adjoining seat. I sure as hell wouldn't want to be burdened because of someone else's horrendous eating habits.

I applaud Southwest for sticking to the policy in this case.

Posted by: Todd

Good episode! Lot's going on. That blonde chick who starting off crying to the SWA guy (can't remember his name) and then turns on him and starts cursing, etc. Hello...YOU couldn't make your original flight in Burbank and somehow SWA is supposed to magically stick you on a plane at LAX 10 minutes before the flight?? And then you're stupid enough to bring WRAPPED gifts into the airport?? Amazing...

Posted by: ireland967

I love when people clearly in the wrong turn to the cameras on this show and say "I hope you're getting all this" - makes me just wanna say yup, there's no doubt of your lunacy. the woman at LAX with the gifts was off the hook - i don't see how the SWA rep could keep his cool as long as he did.

the guys going to the broncos game were classic too. admittedly they did get there early and get their boarding pass, but who the hell waits until 3 minutes before takeoff to finish their drinks in the bar and board the plane - i'll wait until the last minute to board as well, but you have to give it at least 20 min - 5 prob would've been enough to keep these guys seats.

Posted by: jlb.x

I was confused as to how the camera crew knew to film the Broncos fans in the bar, before they were late for their flight. I'm tempted to believe that it was editing trickery, and those were the guys after they had been turned away from the flight and back in the bar. The supervisor's attitude, which seemed defiant and grouchy right from the start didn't seem completely warranted.

The crying woman late for her flight at Burbank and LAX... I have no sympathy. Get to the airport earlier. Don't expect anyone to feel sorry for you when you start cursing at the one perosn trying to help you.

The other crying woman whose mother was dying... Tough one to deal with from the perspective of the gate agent/supervisor, but I think she did the best she could. The grinning teenage daughter was a little odd though. Isn't it kind of serious that your grandmother dying and your mother is distraught?

Russian dance performers... Um, ok. Great. I did like how quickly the gate agent (shown only in the background) picked up on the dance moves. But, I hope they're not on my next flight. ;)

Radar on Shamu is broken... Yay! Something operational, that doesn't involve the ramper frightened of pushing back the plane at the dreaded Gate 3 from hell! Seriously, it's nice to see some of the airline from the other side of the glass now and again.

The series seems to have progressed from the late summer months (the August blackout was in one of the first episodes) to the Christmas holiday time (woman with presents, "wrapped" gate counter).

It does make me wonder though, when the narrator says things like, "Meanwhile, at the other end of the terminal..." how far apart in time the two segments were really filmed. Another editing quirk, necessary of course, but still makes me wonder.

Posted by: bigpuma

quote:
Originally posted by jlb.x

The crying woman late for her flight at Burbank and LAX... I have no sympathy. Get to the airport earlier. Don't expect anyone to feel sorry for you when you start cursing at the one perosn trying to help you.

The worst part of that was he gave her a ticket on a flight that was 1 hour later. :rolleyes: I wanted to smack her (figuratively, not literally)

Posted by: DeDondeEs

People get nuts in an airport, I think it is some absence of control phenomenon. I won't tell you what I thought that woman was complaining about missing a flight because she brought wrapped presents to security 10 minutes before the flight. She looked like the dye blond well endowed type who was used to getting whatever she wants, and if she doesn't ... look out! Someone has to tell a person that thinks the world revolves around them that it doesn’t every once in a while.

If the "passenger of size" had to wait until the last minute to get on that flight after buying a seat how in the heck did he get two seats together? Anyone who has flown Southwest knows that would be next to impossible.
Finally, people paid half to a quarter of what other airlines charge for their airfare, and yet these folks expect to be treated as if they are flying on the Concorde, you get what you pay for. On Southwest you are treated like a cow on it’s way to the feed lot. Whenever I fly SWA I don’t expect much, and only fly direct non-stop flights, anyone who flys a multi-leg journey on SWA is asking for trouble IMO.

Posted by: ThomasDrew

quote:
Originally posted by jlb.x
I was confused as to how the camera crew knew to film the Broncos fans in the bar, before they were late for their flight. I'm tempted to believe that it was editing trickery, and those were the guys after they had been turned away from the flight and back in the bar. The supervisor's attitude, which seemed defiant and grouchy right from the start didn't seem completely warranted.
.

Grouchy and defiant? No way.

She was absolutely, 100% in the right and I applaud her for taking a stand and sticking to her original decision. I've watched this show from it's inception and that woman (based out of Midway I believe) is my favorite Southwest employee by far (next to Mike and "V")

Personal responsibility is going by the wayside these days, due to the fact that most companies let their customers walk all over their employees and fail to back them up. Customers think that because they patronize a business that they are entitled to abuse the representative of that organization. It doesn't work that way.

Customer service is a two way street and, in the event of a dispute, requires BOTH parties to come together to find the best possible solution.

Those men made a choice to leave the gate area and walk over to the bar. WHY would you obtain your boarding passes and then vacate the immediate area?? Whether the bar was 50 feet away is not the point. That woman has an obligation to the other, more responsible passengers who are able to follow simple boarding instructions. Still, she made repeated announcements and waiting until the final seconds (literally) before closing the flight and denying further boarding.

It is NOT Southwest's responsibility to track down it's passengers who feel the need to feed their addiction (refers to smoking as well..remember the man who missed his flight to be at his child's hospital bedside?). Why should the other passengers arrive late simply because a group of grown men cannot go a few hours without drinking?

Leadership requires making tough decisions and often, unpopular judgment calls which will not sit well with a segment of the population.

You can't please everyone all of the time.

Posted by: bigpuma

quote:
Originally posted by ThomasDrew

Those men made a choice to leave the gate area and walk over to the bar. WHY would you obtain your boarding passes and then vacate the immediate area?? Whether the bar was 50 feet away is not the point. That woman has an obligation to the other, more responsible passengers who are able to follow simple boarding instructions. Still, she made repeated announcements and waiting until the final seconds (literally) before closing the flight and denying further boarding.

I leave the gate area all the time while waiting for flights. The difference is I am smart enough to know you get back to the gate at least 10 minutes before the flight is supposed to leave. Waiting until the last possible minute is moronic.

Posted by: jsmeeker

I get my boarding pass at check in, then try to show up to the gate just as boarding starts. I like to board ASAP to ensure I have space for my larger carry on bag.

Posted by: jlb.x

quote:
Originally posted by ThomasDrew
Grouchy and defiant? No way.

She was absolutely, 100% in the right and I applaud her for taking a stand and sticking to her original decision

I did not say she was wrong. In fact, I actually agree that the Broncos fans should have been at the gate, ready to board with the rest of the confirmed passengers, not sitting in the bar drinking right up to 30-seconds before the flight left (they do serve beer onboard, afterall).

However, I didn't think her attitude was warranted right from the start. The indifference and calm shown by Mike to the blonde was applaudable, but this manager does not get my vote for most-personable.

I have the utmost respect for frontline airline employees. I know they regularly get the **** kicked out of them verbally by idiots, but I also think they have to have a strong skin and let these things roll off of them or they won't make it long in the industry... All reasons why I don't work for an airline. :p

Posted by: rseligman

quote:
Originally posted by jlb.x
I was confused as to how the camera crew knew to film the Broncos fans in the bar, before they were late for their flight.

You can say this about any of the passengers they feature. There's no way for them to know that someone is going to be worth taping before their climax moment.

I suspect they just make guesses about who might make a good story, tape them, and then later decide if it was interesting enough to air. And if you do that, then a bunch of drunk football fans is probably a safe bet that something good is going to happen. The cutting room floor is probably layered with people who turned out to be boring.

Posted by: JFriday

What they didn't tell the Bronco's fans was that they had given their seats away to stand-by passengers. I'm sure this played into her stance that they would not be able to board.

I hope the Blonde watched the show to see how bad SW looked then realized what an idiot she is.

Posted by: TonyD79

Nah, I think they re-enact some of it. Don't forget. The Broncos fans had more time to go to the bar while waiting for their next flight.

As for the passenger of size. Rules are fine but SWA does a lousy job of enforcing this one. It is arbitrary on what size means and what it doesn't. They should have offered the guy and his friends that if they sat in a row, then he could use one ticket. If other passengers say that it is not an inconvenience, then why enforce the rule? And, supposedly, if the flight is not sold out, they are not supposed to enforce the rule anyway. If he got a seat (a DOUBLE!) at the last second, then the flight was not sold out.

My problem with SWA in most of these shows is the inconsistency, not the rules themselves.

Posted by: GameGuru

The woman who was crying because he mother was dying I belive was making it all up. Why else would her daughter be smiling when he mom is breaking down crying? She knew he mom was trying to play SW.

Posted by: faerie

regarding inconsitancies - I did notice also that the lady mentioned that she was giving the Broncos people's seats away with 3 minutes to spare. Didn't we watch another ep where the man got to the gate with seconds to spare over the TWO minute deadline for boarding and was refused due to being told that checking in would take too long. I remember that the gate person got chewed out because the flight closes at 2 minutes, not a moment sooner.

Posted by: GameGuru

quote:
Originally posted by faerie
regarding inconsitancies - I did notice also that the lady mentioned that she was giving the Broncos people's seats away with 3 minutes to spare. Didn't we watch another ep where the man got to the gate with seconds to spare over the TWO minute deadline for boarding and was refused due to being told that checking in would take too long. I remember that the gate person got chewed out because the flight closes at 2 minutes, not a moment sooner.

You are correct but maybe it was in a different airport, I am sure even though they are all SWA that in some airports they might have slightly different rules because of location situations.

Posted by: EchoBravo

quote:
She looked like the dye blond well endowed type who was used to getting whatever she wants, and if she doesn't ... look out!

Agreed. I immediately thought "aging stripper who always gets her way with men." Not this time, Honey. Shoulda gone Greyhound!

quote:
I was confused as to how the camera crew knew to film the Broncos fans in the bar, before they were late for their flight.

I had a eureka moment about this while watching this week's show. Think: Another camera crew that tapes only in the bar, getting everything/everyone interesting there. That way, when there's drama at a gate, they just go to BarCam and see if said people were there. If anyone's brought this up already, I apologize for "stealing" your idea.

As a former Customer Service Lead Agent, I have zero sympathy for the Broncos' fans. Your idiocy is not my emergency. I'd get way more satisfaction making a standby passenger's day than possibly taking a delay paging people by name who don't have sense enough to put down the beer and get on the plane. There's nothing wrong with livin' it up and having a good time... But as someone above pointed out, there's also a thing called personal responsibility.

Lastly, for the passenger of size. I understand and support the policy, but always feel sorry for those affected. Bringing up the guy's eating habits are tactless here. Do we feel less sorry for a cancer patient who got it breating in second-hand smoke in a bar? "Well, he should've gone to college and got a better job." I didn't hear the WN people explain to him he could get his/his company's money refunded if there ended up being an empty seat anywhere on that bird.

Posted by: ScottE22

I'm a late-comer to this show and I LOVE it. Discovered it when I upgraded from Cable + SA TiVo to DirecTiVo. I'd heard good things about it here, so I recorded an ep and IMMEDIATELY set up an SP!

I would have smacked that blonde woman when she started saying, "Whatever. Whatever." She makes all these remarks and accusations and when the agent tries to explain, she cuts him off.

I used to travel nearly every week for business so the airport ritual is routine for me, but I've seen the insanity first hand as I'm sure a lot of us have...

One thing I do notice is that you never (rarely?) see any business travelers causing a scene on this show....

Posted by: Marc

quote:
Originally posted by ScottE22
One thing I do notice is that you never (rarely?) see any business travelers causing a scene on this show....

Worse... it seems to me that many of the more outrageous people on this show look like they should be on their way to a Jerry Springer taping.

Posted by: rseligman

quote:
Originally posted by faerie
regarding inconsitancies - I did notice also that the lady mentioned that she was giving the Broncos people's seats away with 3 minutes to spare. Didn't we watch another ep where the man got to the gate with seconds to spare over the TWO minute deadline for boarding and was refused due to being told that checking in would take too long.

I guess because in the second case the passengers were already checked in as standby, whereas in the first case the passenger wasn't checked in. Also, when you're there at the gate with plenty of time but have to wait until 2 mins. before because the gate agent tells you to, you'll have a lot more options than if you arrive on your own 2 mins. before and demand service.

Posted by: landrumdh

Good ep. I love this series, it's great.

But I do agree alot of people just loose it when they goto airports. The attitude of the 'customer is always right' is such BS. Part of the reason I HATED working retail, I couldn't count the number of times that was said to me because they were a freaking moron and screwed up! Be nice and I'll try my hardest to help, but a jackass and you get the bare minimum amount of help from me. UGG